The banana has been hotly debated and made international headlines since its debut at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019.
A banana duct-taped to a white wall — or an acclaimed piece of art, depending how you look at it — sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $6.24 million Wednesday.
Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” is simply a banana stuck to the wall with a strip of silver duct tape exactly 160 centimeters from the floor.
The artwork debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019 and was initially estimated to sell for $1.5 million, according to Sotheby’s.
Art Basel quickly had to take the banana off the wall because of the crowds it drew, as it was prompting concern for the other featured artworks, art critic Nancy Durrant said in a Sotheby’s video about the piece of art.
It was the first art fair Cattelan was included in for 15 years, and it was the “announcement as a new original work by Maurizio Cattelan that captured the world’s attention immediately,” said David Galperin, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art for the Americas.
At one point, someone even took the banana off the wall and ate it.
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